By IANS, [RxPG] As many as 200 faculty posts are lying vacant at the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences - that serves an estimated 8,000 patients every day, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Tuesday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Azad said that of the 200 vacant posts, the institute has already advertised for 115 positions at the level of professors and lecturers in nursing.

He also said that the institute's standing committee on selection held in November and December last year had considered all eligible faculties for promotion.

Asked whether operation theatres at AIIMS are closed down, Azad said these were 'temporarily closed for necessary maintenance and upgradation work'.

'Insofar as neurology is concerned, out of seven operation theatres six are fully operational and one is under renovation,' he added.

The Delhi-based institute is among the top 10 medical colleges in the world, and serves mostly the underprivileged people who come from all over the country. the institute has over 2,200 beds. The Newsweek magazine has described the AIIMS as an 'oasis of the poor'.